I’m spending the week sharing my Passover cooking at http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/138251-eg-foodblog-pam-r-2011/
Stop by, see what I’m cooking — ask questions!
Chag Sameach!
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Passover Mushroom And Onion Kugel
16 AprAccording to my blog statistics, a lot of people are getting here because they are looking for a recipe for Mushroom and Onion Kugel. I do have a recipe for said kugel on this blog, but it’s for a kugel I make for Rosh Hashana. That one is made with egg noodles.
Since people are looking for it, I thought it would be a good idea to share my recipe for my Passover Mushroom & Onion Kugel. It’s very similar — simple and tasty, but uses farfel (broken up matzo) rather than noodles. Can be made ahead and freezes well.
Passover Mushroom and Onion Farfel Kugel (from Passover – A Kosher Collection)
If I had to choose (and it would be hard to decide) I think this might be my favourite kugel. Button and crimini mushrooms often get the short end of the stick, but I love them and this kugel shows them off.
4 Tbsp. | 60 mL olive oil
1 lb. | 454 g yellow onions, peeled and diced small (2 medium)
2 tsp. | 10 mL salt
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. | 680 g button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups | 355 mL water
8 oz. | 225 g farfel (4 cups | 950 mL)
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 F | 190 C.
Place a large frying pan or a pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes or until soft and golden brown.
Add the mushrooms and cook another 6-8 minutes, or until they’ve all cooked and have shrunk by about half. We’re not trying to brown the mushrooms at all, just cook them.
Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute.
Put the farfel in a large mixing bowl. Pour the mushroom/onion mixture over the farfel and stir to mix. Let rest for about half an hour or until cooled completely. and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Once cooled, add the eggs and stir to combine. Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 11-inch | 20 x 27.5-cm pan.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and firm.
A Fresh Passover
10 AprI often hear people complain about heavy foods at Passover. It’s true – with menus that include chopped liver, brisket and kugels it can weigh you down. And while I like to serve traditional foods during the holidays, there are a lot more options that people don’t associate with Passover menus.
For meals that include these heavier dishes, I always make sure to include a fresh, crisp salad and fresh fruit for desserts. I also make sure that the week has plenty of lighter meals – a fritatta with salad or maybe my favorite Mediterranean Black Cod served with steamed vegetables.
For a lighter, fresh Passover, here are a couple of my favorite salad recipes (from my cookbook Passover – A Kosher Collection).
Watermelon & Feta Salad
This is one of my favorite salads. For a different version, replace the mint with basil and the lime juice with balsamic vinegar.
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL olive oil
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL black pepper
6 cups | 1.4 L watermelon, seedless, cit into 1-inch | 2.5-cm cubes
4 oz. | 115 g feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh mint, finely sliced
3 oz. | 85 g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (1/2 small)
Mix the lime juice, olive oil and black pepper together in a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently mix together.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Can be made several hours in advance. If you do make it ahead. pour off any excess liquid and taste, checking for seasoning before serving.
Jicima Slaw
This is a great alternative to classic coleslaw. It’s crisp, light and flavourful.
1 1/2 lbs. | 680 g jicima, peeled and julienned (1 medium)
3 oz. | 85 g carrots, peeled and shredded (2 small)
3 oz. | 85 g yellow pepper, cored, seeded and cut into a thin julienne (1/2 medium)
3 oz. | 85 g orange pepper, cored, seeded and cut into a thin julienne (1/2 medium)
1 oz. | 28 g green onions, thinly sliced (2 large)
3 oz. | 85 g white onion, peeled and sliced paper thin (1/2 small)
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL grapeseed oil (or light olive oil)
1 tsp. | 5 mL salt
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL honey
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL black pepper
Put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss together.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to blend together.
Can be made 4-6 hours before serving.
It’s all about the Charoset
5 AprWith Passover less than two weeks away, it’s time to make some serious decisions. The most important decision, in my opinion, is what kind of charoset to make. I love charoset. I like that charoset being passed around the table means dinner is about to start. I love that charoset is symbolic — it’s there to remind us of the mortar used by the Jewish slaves in Egypt to build cities. And I really love charoset because it’s delicious.
When I was growing up, charoset was always a mixture of shredded apples, cinnamon, honey, chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans) and some sweet red wine. Nobody in my family used a precise recipe — we just added what looked right and kept tasting and adjusting until it was perfect.
Eventually I started experimenting and came up with some different flavour combinations that I really liked. Now I have a few charoset recipes that I love. Here’s my recipe for date charoset. I like it so much I make a double batch to use it on matzo throughout the week (great for breakfast!).
Date Charoset
2 oz. | 55 g walnuts (1/2 cup | 120 mL)
8 oz. | 225 g pitted dates (1 cup | 235 mL)
3 oz. | 85 g golden raisins (1/2 cup | 120 mL)
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL dried ginger
1/2 tsp. | 2 mL cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
3 Tbsp. | 45 mL sweet red wine
2 Tbsp. | 30 mL fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp. | 1 mL orange zest
Toast the nuts. Preheat the oven to 350 F | 175 C. Spread the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 8-9 minuets, or until golden brown. Cool.
Put all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the charoset reaches a texture you like. I like to pulse it until it is mostly paste, with some small chunks remaining. If you like it chunkier, stop pulsing before it gets too smooth.
Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Makes 1 1/2 cups | 355 mL
* Adapted from my book, Passover – A Kosher Collection
Passover Prep #1
24 FebAfter a wonderful vacation, I arrived home to a stack of Passover price-lists from my suppliers. Lots of people are surprised to hear that I’m working on Passover orders before we even start thinking about Purim — but that’s how it works. On the other hand, some customers have already started asking if the matzo has arrived yet!
For the last two weeks I’ve been going through the price lists. I’ve been comparing prices and trying to find the best deals for our customers. It’s exciting to see that there are some new products available — hopefully they won’t disappoint.
After the orders get faxed and emailed in this week and next, we’ll be working on our prepared food order form. Each year we cook and bake for 100+ families over Passover. Then the trucks will start rolling in with orders and right after Purim we’ll turn the store over for Pesach (all chometz gets packed up and the entire store gets stocked with KFP items).
Just thinking about this exhausts me.
Have you started thinking about Passover yet?
Books Now Available At www.pamelareiss.com
27 JanIt’s been an interesting week and a half. Last week I sent over 40 review books out to media — we’ll see if anything comes from that. The books have been selling out of the store and I’ve received interest from other stores/distributors in the US and Canada. It’s very exciting to see them going out. Today the first wholesale order was shipped out and I’m expecting some more wholesale orders from other cities to come in.
In other news, it looks like I’ll be having an official book launch in a few weeks at a great independent book store in Winnipeg. It’s the same store where I launched my first book five years ago and it’ll be nice to have the second one there. I’ll post more information when dates and times are confirmed.
Finally, we’ve now got an updated website up at www.pamelareiss.com. If you click on the “books” link at the top-right, we’re set up to accept book orders. Shipping in Canada and the USA is free and to other countries it’s $10 for one or two books, $15 for three or four books. If you need a quote for wholesale pricing, please get in touch.
Thanks to all of those who have already picked up a copy (or multiple copies) and for all of the great feedback!
The books are here!
18 Jan
I spent last night tossing and turning. The books were due to arrive today and I was anxious. I was scared to see the books. It was a completely irrational fear because I knew about all the work that went into them. Months of recipe testing and writing was followed by edit after edit. When that was done, it was time for proofing, a little more editing and then more proofing.
First thing this morning, we cleared out a hallway at work. Chairs and tables leftover from our restaurant days usually reside here, but they had to make way for the books! And then they arrived. And I’m so happy with them.
Again, my irrational fear was that they wouldn’t look like real books. I can’t really explain this, because it makes no sense, but this is my first attempt at self-publishing and I was scared they wouldn’t look as good as Soup. They look great! I’m thrilled with how they turned out.
So that’s 254 boxes of books, to the left. It’s a whole lotta books. Good news is they all fit in the hall. I was concerned we’d have to fill the storage rooms and that we’d have rows of boxes stacked in the store aisles. At the moment it’s not a problem, but we have to start moving some out soon. As we approach Passover, we turn the entire store over and sell only Passover foods — and we need every inch of space we can get.
We sold 3 books out of the store this afternoon and I have orders that need to be shipped out tomorrow.
I also have to start packaging up the press kits and sending them out. We’re on our way — just another 5990-odd books to go!
If you’re in Winnipeg, books are available at the store (Desserts Plus) for now, with more stores to follow. They’re also available at amazon.com. We hope to have www.pamelareiss.com set up for book orders by the end of the week.
The books are coming!
15 JanHappy new year!
I took a much needed break over the new year, getting away to the States for a week. It was the first week off from working on the book since Passover 2009. I had a great week, lots of shopping and relaxing and general road-trip fun.
My parents also went away and were out of town for another week, so when I returned to Winnipeg I had to deal with the 5-door freezer that broke down in our store while we were all gone. (The freezer was full of meat. Interesting fact, the zoo won’t take meat that’s been thawed. It all had to be trashed.) That, along with other fun things at work kept me running around in circles.
In the middle of the work mishugas, I had to approve final proofs for the book and get some items checked off the book-business to-do list (bank stuff, GST numbers, etc.). I’m also trying to get my website revamped with all of the heavy lifting being done by my sister. But stuff had to be written and organized for that.
While it’s been a bit stressful since I’ve been home, it’s also been exciting. I got my first orders from Amazon.com and have corresponded with some Jewish book distributors who are interested in handling my book. On Monday, my printers told me that they were printing the cover and text. The image insert pages were due to be printed later this week. Today the books were set to be bound and I should be receiving them next week.
I’m excited and nervous. First issue: Where will I put 6000 books? But that’s a small issue that’s easily resolved (just involves a lot of schlepping). I’m nervous because this time, the experience is much different from the Soup experience. With that book I tested, wrote and edited my words but everything else was done by the publishers. They had people doing the layout. They hired a food stylist and photographer to do the photos. The one thing that is consistent is the printer. Both books have been printed by the same company. The biggest difference may be that I have to figure out how to get them all sold.
So less than a week and they’ll be here. I can’t wait.
Have a great weekend.
Available for Pre-Orders on Amazon.com
25 NovI almost forgot the most exciting news of the day!
I went to Amazon.com to order something and as I do occasionally, I checked in to see how Soup was doing. What came up? A listing for the Passover book! It’s now available for pre-orders on Amazon – click!
This is getting exciting.
I think I’ll go work on some edits and get that book done.
What’s in a name? Brand recognition for one . . .
25 NovA while back I put out a call for names for the Passover cookbook. There were lots of great suggestions and my advisory team (mom and dad plus friends on Facebook ad Twitter) and I debated titles for weeks. We were looking for humour, for creativity, and for the best descriptions; we let each title stand alone, then we tried mixing and matching. There were a few finalists. And then, finally, we realized that we were over-thinking it.
We finally decided on: Passover – A Kosher Collection.
It’s simple and to the point. Hopefully it will let those who enjoyed Soup – A Kosher Collection know that this book is from the same author. And finally, when I started writing Soup, I hoped that it would be the first in a series. I planned on Salads, Mains, Desserts, etc. — all with “A Kosher Collection” attached. Passover deviated from the plan. It wasn’t a course. But I realized it didn’t have to be a course — this holiday book is still a kosher collection.
I would like to thank everybody who contributed suggestions. They were all appreciated and given consideration before we realized we shouldn’t fix what wasn’t broken.
